Out of hospital, former Chiefs receiver says, ‘I know exactly what COVID looks like’
Former Chiefs wide receiver Tamarick Vanover was in a grateful mood following his release from the hospital last week after being treated for COVID-19.
Vanover told the Tallahassee Democrat he thought he was diligent about staying safe from the virus. But Vanover ended up spending two weeks at a Tallahassee hospital before being allowed to go home Friday.
“I know there have been people who came through these doors and didn’t make it through the other side,” Vanover told the Democrat. “The staff here did a wonderful job treating me, letting me know what was going on. I was just trying to be confident in a situation that could be difficult.”
When Vanover first fell ill, he went to a medical office, the Democrat reported, and tested positive for COVID-19. He was then hospitalized because of an “abnormal” chest X-Ray.
Vanover, 47, was given an additional diagnosis of strep throat and double pneumonia, and in the hospital received “supplemental oxygen.”
“Looking at my X-rays,” Vanover told the newspaper, “I know exactly what COVID looks like.”
Although he is out of the hospital, Vanover will have oxygen therapy at home.
“What concerned me is you can do everything possible to try to prevent it — and you can still catch it,” Vanover told the Democrat.
Vanover was the Chiefs’ third-round pick in the 1995 NFL Draft. He appeared in 70 games between 1995 and 1999 for the Chiefs, and he was a standout special-teams player. He led he NFL in punt-return yards in his first and final seasons for the Chiefs and scored four touchdowns on punt returns and four more on kickoff returns.
In 2019, Vanover was one of 10 former NFL players indicted for allegedly defrauding one of the league’s health care benefit programs.
This story was originally published March 8, 2021 at 9:53 AM.
